Mechanism for feeding cards or the like.



No. 679,961. Patented Aug. 6, 190i. manna.

MECHANISM FOR FEEDING CARDS OR THE LIKE.

(Application filed Jan. 23, 1901.) (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet l.

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No. 679,96l. Patented Aug. 6, 19m. N .1. FRENCH.

MECHANISM FOR FEEDING CARDS OR THE LIKE.

(Application filed Jan. 23, 1901.)

2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH FRENCH, OF VVOONSOCKE'I, RI-IODE ISLAND.

MECHANISM FOR FEEDING CARDS OR THE LIKE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 679,961, dated August6, 1901. Application filed January 23, 1901. Serial No. 44,3'78- (Nomodel.)

To ctZZ whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOSEPH FRENCH, a citizen of the United States,residing at Woonsocket, in the county of Providence, State of RhodeIsland, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Mechanismsfor Feeding Cards or the Like, of which the following is aspecification, reference being bad therein to the accompanying drawings.

The invent-ion has relation to the means employed in various machinesfor the purpose of feeding cards and. similar articles singly insuccession. V

The invention is designed'for use in con nection with various kinds ofmachines, among which may be instanced postmarking and cancelingmachines, machines for printing, 850.

In a machine on the order of those to which my present invention isapplicable a stack of cards or the like articles to be fed isplaced inproper position in the machine, and from the said stack the cards orother articles are required to be taken and advanced singly insuccession through a throat or passage-way just wide enough to admit ofthe passage of one card at a time. In practice difficulty is experiencedfrom the fact that the ends of the cards in the stack sometimes are heldback by friction against the adjoining side of the receptacle orcontainer or become warped or bent, so that the leading end of a card orother article requiring to be fed does notaline itself relatively to thethroat or passage-way in proper position to enter the latter at theproper time. From this results a failure to feed and more or less injuryto the card or other article, these being due to the fact that the cardis held. back from being advanced under the action of the devicesoperating to carry it toward the throat or passage-way.

My invention has for its aim to remedy the drawback described justabove; and it consists in an improved construction of the part or partsforming the throat or passage-way, which I will now proceed to explainwith reference to the accompanying drawings, in which latter I haveillustrated embodiments of the invention.

Having reference to the drawings, Figure 1 shows a partly-sectional planor portion of a machine which for thepurposes of the pres ent disclosuremay be regarded as a post' vplates 33 33, 85c.

View in elevation from the reari. 6., the

Figs. 5, 6, and 7 are views cortop in Fig. 1. responding with Figs. 1,2, and 3, showing an embodiment of the invention in which the gages andopposing blocks are fixed- Figs.

embodiment of the invention in which the said In the drawings, 1designates the end plate,

against which in practice will be caused to press the first card or thelike article of the series or stack of cards or the like articles to beoperated upon. 2 designates a portion of a side plate or side baragainst which the righthand ends of the said series or stack bear andalong which the said ends slide as the cards or the like articles(hereinafter termed the cards) advance in usual manner to the placewhere the feeding occurs.

3 designates a feeder, by the action of which the foremost card of theseries or stack is forced or carried transversely through the throat orpassage-way or is advanced sufficiently into and through the said throator passage-way to enable the leading end thereof to be grasped bydevices operating to carry the cardv forward through the machine.

The feeder 3 may in practice be of any approved construction, although Iprefer to employ a sectional feeder of the same general character andconstruction as that which is presented in my application for UnitedStates Letters Patent for improvement in postmarking and cancelingmachines filed January 23, 1901, Serial No. 44,490. Thus in the drawingsI have represented the said feeder as provided with a vertical series ofdogs 31 31, 850., located in spaces 32 32, &c., between the separated byspacing-blocks 34 34, &7Q., the said plates 33 and blocks 34 beingfastened together by bolts 35 35and the series of dogs The said 'plates33 33 are p 3l 31 being pivoted upon a vertical pin 36,

which passes through the series of plates 33 reciprocates transverselyin Fig. '1. 'lhenoses or engaging portions 31 of the dogs are locatedbetween the pivotal points of the dogs and the throat or passage-way,and consequenily, as will be perceived, the action of the springs inforcing the dogs out of the spaces in which'they are contained causes.

the said noses or, engaging portions to advance toward the front card inthe series or stack to be fed until the prolongations 31 of the dogsbring up against the front face of the said first card. 7 Also theresistance which the card that is engaged by the said dogs offers tobeing pushed forward by the same in the feeding movement of the feederhas a tendency to rotate the dogs outward into fuller engagement withthe card. The outward movement of the dogs is limited by an upright pin31 passingdown through holes in the plates and also through an enlargedhole 31 in each of the dogs. (See Fig. 1.) The feeder and end plate areprovided with overlapping tongues 31 31 &e., and l 1*, &c., which bridgethe space existing between the body of the feeder and the right-hand,

portion of the end plate.

Adjacent the thr'oat or passage-wayl have represented a pair of rolls 45, which may be regarded ascomprising, respectively, a printing-roll 4and a backing-roll 5. The leading end of the foremost card in the seriesor stack after having been advanced by the feeder through the throat orpassage-way into'the bite of the said pair of rolls is taken hold of bythe latter and by the rotation thereof carried forward.

I produce what may be termed a floating throat, the position of which isdetermined or deii'ned by the position of the leading'end of the cardwhich is next to pass into and through the passage-way. ThusI mount thethroat-piece movably, and in order to place the same under the controlof the card end which is next to pass through the throat or passage-wayI cause the throat-piece to bev pressed with yielding force in thedirection of the face of thesaid card end,so as to tend to cause a gagewhich, may constitute one side of the throat to project somewhat beyondthe general plane of the inner surface of the end plate and feedertoward the stack of cards. This gage bears firmly against the said faceof the card end and accommodates itself to' When the first the positionof the latter.

card advances properly into contact with the socket in the back of theend plate 1.

of the first card.

1 or passage-way.

ing the throat-piece yieldingly inward toward or-pin.

the first card.

gage are held pressed inward by the spring, so

as tocause the gage to find and make contact with the face of the saidend. Thus I utilize the face of the card end itself as a means ofalining the floating throat with the card end. Herein the throat-piece 6is for convenience made substantially L-shaped in plan,as shown by Fig.1, and is placed in the machine with one arm there.of,"6l, extendingparallel with the end plate 1 transversely in the drawings and the otherarm thereof,62, extending parallel withthe side plate 2. The arm 6ifirst mentioned is connected to the end plate 1 in a manner to enablethe throat-piece to rock transversely to itself in a vertical plane,whereby it is. enabled to accommodate itself to any inclination of thefront card from the vertical and to enable it to swing bodily in ahorizontal direction toward and from the face of the said card. Thusherein the transversely-extending arm 63 of the throat-piece isfurnished at m id-heightof the throat with a round'headed projecting pin(it, working in a 66 is a vertical slot or openingin the arm 62 of thethroat-piece, through which the cards travel as they are fed endwise.The throatpiece is furnished with two gages 66 66,which are designed tomake contact with the face They are located at some distance apartvertically. These gages in the present instance form one side of thethroat For the purpose of pressthe stack of cards, so as to tendto cause'the said gages to occupy normally a position in which they will bearagainst the face of the end of the front card before the main portion ofsuch card brings up against the end plate and feeder, acompressiomspring 7 is employed, it being applied to the stem of ascrew-threaded pin or stud 8, projecting from the end plate 1 through ahole in the In carrying my present invention into effect hollow boss,with which the transverse arm being compressed between the inner end ofthe said boss and the'nut 9 on the said screw By turning the said nut 9the tension of the spring 7 may be varied, and thereby the degree ofresistance which the throatpiece will offer to being pressed outward bythe cards may be regulated. The spring 7 operates to hold thethroat-piece pressed inwardly with force enough to cause the gages tobecome firmly seated against the face of In consequence of the fixedrelationship between the gages 66 66 and the throator passage-way itwill follow that when the face of the card end and the surfaces of thegages are in proper contact the throat or passage-way will be in correctjuxtaposition with the leading end ofthe card, and the feed in gmovement of the card will invariably project said leading endtherethrough. The

gages 66 66 may be constituted by fixed parts in the throat-piece, as inFigs. 5, 6, and 7. In most cases, however, the said gages will bemounted or applied upon the throat-piece in a manner rendering themcapable of moving or yielding to a certain extent independently of thethroat-piece and, if desired, also independently of each other. This isfor the purpose of enabling them to accommodate themselves to anylocalor unusual increase in the thickness of a cardas, for instance, when theedge of the card is battered or bent; also, for the purpose of enablingthe width of the throat or passage-way conveniently to be regulated toaccommodate cards or the like of any required thickness, as presentlywill be explained. Thus in Fig. 1 I have shown each gage located at oneextremity of an arm 661, which is pivoted at its other extremity to lugs662 662, projecting forwardly from the trans versely-extending arm 61 ofthe throat-piece. Each of the said arms 661 661 has a projection or pin663, that is acted against by a leafspring 664:, attached to thetransversely-extending arm 61 of the throat-piece. The leafspring 664acts with a tendency to hold the gage pressed forwardly into its normalposition relatively to the throat-piece. The said normal position of thegages is fixed by the headed stop pins or screws 665 665, which areattached to the said gages.

Figs. 8, 9, and 10 show an embodiment of the invention in which thegages 66 66 are attached to the free extremities of leaf-springs 666666, which at their other extremities are affixed to the arm 61 of thethroat piece. Each spring 666 has attached thereto a threaded stud 667,projecting through a hole in the arm 61 and having applied thereto a nut668 to limit the inward fiexureof the said spring.

For the purpose of enabling the tension of.

each spring 666 to be regulated to suit the requirements of practice Ihave shown in this modification an adj usting-screw 669 with lock-nut670 thereon. By turning this screw in or out the free extremity of thespring and the gage thereon may be borne more or less forcibly inwardtoward the stack of cards. For the purpose of enabling a wide range ofadjustments to be had a number of threaded holes 671 671, &c., areformed through the arm 61 at different distances from the fixed end ofthe spring to' receive the said adj usting-screw.

The side of the throat or passage-way opposite that which is constitutedby the gages 66 66 may be formed by one or more pieces 6" 8 rigidlymounted, as in Figs. 5 and 6.

Preferably, however, I mount pivotally upon the forwardly-projecting arm62 of the th roatpiece tongues or blocks 8 8, Figs. 1 and 3,corresponding in number with the gages 66 66 and having tails which areacted upon by leaf-springs 81 81, tending to hold the workin g ends ofthe pivoted tongues or blocks normally in working position close to thefaces of the gages. Ordinarily these tongues or blocks occupy thepositions in which they are represented in Figs. 1 and 3; but they. arearranged to yield when necessary for the purpose of avoiding injury to acard which is being advanced through the throat or passage-way. Thenecessity for yielding of the said tongues or blocks occurs when anundue thickness presents itself in a card. This undue thickness mayresult from the edge of a card being battered, or torn and bent backupon itself, or in extreme cases two or more cards may cling togetherand pass at one time into the throat or passage-way. It will now beperceived that the real throat or passage-way exists between thefa-cesof the gages 66 66 and the ends of the movableblocks or tongues 8 8. Thewidth of said throat or passage-way is adjusted by means of thestopscrews 665 665 of Figs. 1 and 4 or by means of the studs 667 andnuts 668 of Figs. 7, 8, and 9. It willbe perceived also that the saidthroat or passage-way is composed of separate narrow sections one abovethe other. This lessens the difficulty in causing the lead ing edge of acard to enter, since the said edge need aline itself with only the saidnarrow portions of throat. If the card be battered or bent elsewherethan at the said sections, it will in no wise hinder the advance of thecard.

What I claim is- 1. In combination, a receptacle for cards or the like,and a fioatin g throat-piece controlled in position by the position ofthe leading end of the card which is next to be fed, substantially asdescribed.

2. In combination, a receptacle for cards or the like, a floatingthroat-piece, a gage to enable the position of the throat-piece to bedetermined by the leading end of the card next to be fed, and means tohold said throatpiece pressed with yielding force toward its normalposition, substantially as described.

3. In combination, a receptacle for cards and the like, a movablethroat-piece, a gage to enable the position of the throat-piece to bedetermined by the leading end of the card next to be fed, means toadjust the said gage to vary the throat or passage-way, and means tohold the throat-piece pressed with yielding force toward its normalposition substantially as described.

4. In combination, a receptacle for cards and the like, a movablethroat-piece, means to hold the same pressed with yielding force intonormal position, a gage connected with said throat-piece forming oneside of the throat or passage-way, and a block forming the other sidethereof and yielding to obviate injury to a card, substantially asdescribed.

5. In combination, a receptacle for cards and the like, a movablethroat-piece having a yielding gage to enable the position of thethroat-piece to be determined by the leading IIO end of the card next tobe fed, said gage forming one side of the throat or passage-way, ayielding block forming the other side of the throat or passageway, andmeans to hold the throat-piece pressed with yielding force to- Ward, thenormal position thereof, substantially as described.

6. In combination, a receptacle for cards and the like, a movablethroat-piece, means to hold the same pressed with yielding force intonormal position, a gage to enable the position ofthe throat-piece to bedetermined by the leading end of the card next to be fed, and formingoneside of the throat or passageway, means to adjust the said gage tovary the throat or passage-way, and a block forming the other side ofsaid throat or passageway and yielding to obviate injury to a card,substantially as described.

7. A receptacle for cards and the like having a throat in narrowsections separated from each other to facilitate passage of a cardtherethrough, substantially as described.

8. In combination, a receptacle for cards and the like having a throatin narrow sections separated from each other, to facilitate passage of acard therethrough, and the sectional feeder, substantially as described.

9. In combination, a receptacle for cards having a floating throat, anda sectional feeder, substantially as described.

1 0. In combination, a receptacle for cards, a yielding throat-piece,yielding gages to coact with the face of the leading end of the firstcard, and pivoted yielding blocks forming one side of the throat orpassage-way, substantially as described.

11. In combination, a receptacle for cards, a yielding throat-piece,gages t0 coact with the faceof the leading end of the first card,pivoted blocks forming one side of the throat or passage-way, and meansto adjust the width of said throat or passage-way, substantially asdescribed.

12. In combination, a receptacle for cards, a yielding throat-piece,yielding'gages to coact with the face of the leading end of the firstcard, pivoted blocks forming one side of the throat or passage-Way, and.means to adjust the width of said throat or passage- Way, substantiallyas described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOSEPH FRENCH. Witnesses:

LEPINE HALL RIcE, CHAs. F. RANDALL.

